Cell shading

Prepare to battle it out in Kill La Kill IF the latest from A+ Games that transforms the popular anime into a Cell shaded 3D fighter that packs a punch.

Kill La Kill IF is a fast, arena based fighter that certainly doesn’t hold anything back, in fact it also doesn’t even leave much to the imagination. Those that are familiar with the Anime or Manga will know exactly what I am talking about but players that don’t know might be in for a slight shock. The Story of Kill La Kill IF revolves around an academy that specialises in fighting and students are ranked from No-Star to Three Star. The most skilled fighters receive “Goku Uniforms” that gives the wearer superhuman strength and abilities, these uniforms are unique for each wearer but often are quite revealing. The story follows various characters in their struggle and is a story offshoot that is written and supervised by the anime’s head writer. Apart from the main story mode there is a versus mode and a handful of challenge modes that are good fun for new or experienced players to hone their skills.

The fighting system in Kill La Kill IF feels very tight and focuses very heavily on combos and special attacks. Guard breaks or quick side steps are quite often required to avoid an enemy’s barrage of attacks and turn the tide of the battle in your favour. Charging up a power meter will allow you to carry out a variety of special attacks and having at least 50% of it full will allow you to carry out a “Valor Burst” either defensively or offensively. This can also lead to a “Bloody Valor” which is a rock/paper/scissor scene that will allow your Valor level to increase by 1 up to a maximum of 3 if the attacker succeeds. Reaching level 3 lets you carry out a “SEN-I-SOSHITSU secret art” attack, which is a devastating and round ending move that is always impressive to behold.

The visuals in Kill La Kill IF are great, the game engine looks beautiful even on the switch in handheld mode. There is always so much going on visually that it’s hard to believe it looks as good as it does and there are times when the cell shading is so effective that the cutscenes almost feel like you are watching the anime. One thing that might put off those not familiar with the series is the amount of fan service present, which is very in your face. Female characters often have extremely skimpy outfits and there are multiple occasions when characters, both male and female, are reduced to underwear. Fans will enjoy the fact that there is a plethora of things to unlock in the gallery mode, Voice library and sound test by spending the GP you earn when playing through the games various modes.

Overall Kill La Kill IF is a fun fighting game with lots of replayability that is obviously taking a very fan-centric approach that will either convert you to the cause or might completely put you off the franchise. Certainly worth a look for those that are unsure but want to try a fun and flashy fighting game.

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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.